The Japanese base education on a holistic approach that requires an extremely engaged relationship between teacher and teacher in working with children.
There are three cornerstones of the national education system: chi, toku, thai.
"Chi" teaches self-discipline, cooperation with others, encourages attentiveness and charity. "Toku" develops initiative, constant learning and thinking, everything that should train a child to make independent decisions and solve problems. "Thai" says - listen to your body, live actively, do exercises so that your psychophysical condition is always at an enviable level.
It is therefore not surprising that according to the results of the international PISA test, Japan is the second country in the world in terms of students' demonstrated knowledge in the sphere of science, they are also second in mathematics, and in sixth place in terms of literary abilities.
In addition to all that, something that makes the land of the rising sun unique in the world is the compulsory subject - moral education!
This subject is studied during the fifth and sixth grades, with the aim of students thinking about values, but without any intention of the teacher to impose some of these values on them.
Respect
Thanks probably to such a system, but also to tradition, Japan is a country where at every step you will feel something specific like nowhere else - that is respect.
Starting with greetings that - instead of handshakes and hugs - are expressed with a deep bow, to every conversation, on the street, in a taxi, in a large company, state institution, in a hotel - you simply feel so respected and respected everywhere that sometimes it makes you uncomfortable.
Maybe also because you come from a different culture, based on contestation and negation.
Japan is an island in the Pacific, taken but stretched between the Okhotsk, South China and Philippine Seas. At first glance, it does not give the impression of a large territory, although its area is slightly larger than the largest European country - Germany.
In terms of economic strength, Japan is ahead of Germany - the world's third power, behind America and China. But that's why in Japan - as in all of Asia - people work harder and longer than in Europe.
Our interlocutors from various spheres of society will tell you how their working life lasts until death. Pensions, which are on average over three thousand dollars, are not enough to live carefree after their acquisition. Which is not surprising because you need significantly more money to live on average than in Europe.
Most of it goes to buying an apartment - a square meter in Tokyo, on the outskirts, costs from five to six thousand dollars.
There is no upper limit in the center. For the sake of illustration, a square meter of land for an office building in the most elite part of Tokyo called Ginza costs as much as 350 thousand dollars. A square meter, then.
But that's Japan. And that's Asia. A continent of strength and power. Seemingly, I am self-sufficient. Data on the number of tourists who visit Japan each year also show this.
During 2017, close to 25 and a half million foreigners came to the island, of which more than 22 million, or more than 90 percent, were guests from Asia! Fewer tourists come from the whole of North America and Europe (1.4 m from the USA and 1.2 from Europe) than from tiny Taiwan (4.3 million) or only slightly more than from one city - Hong Kong - 2.2 million! Asia is definitely and unstoppably taking primacy in the world.
Among the world's five largest companies in the production of robots, Japan has three. Kawasaki is one of them. There are 16 factories across Japan, and another 18 around the world. On all continents. China is of course the biggest market.
The operating profit of the company in 2017 was over 500 million dollars. Only a quarter is from motorcycles, and a much larger part from engines for airplanes, helicopters, ships, from turbines and generators... And with such performance, Kawasaki is only the third company in Japan in the segment of precision mechanics and robots.
The symbol of Japanese investment in knowledge and technology is the world's first super high-speed train, the so-called Shinkasen. Or in translation New main line.
It connected the two largest cities, Tokyo and Osaka, now far away in 1964. On October XNUMXst. Until then, it took eight hours to travel on that route, with the Shinkasen - two and a half. Back then, we still drove around the country, and even today our trains are not much faster.
Japan is already working on a project that will accelerate the Shinkasen to an unimaginable 500 km per hour, and according to the 2027 plan, that super-fast line will connect the two mentioned megacities.
A sword spectacle - without fear or desire
Kyoto is to Japan what Cetinje is to Montenegro. The old, centuries-old capital. The most important part of the city and the biggest attraction for tourists is the hill at the end of the city where the Yasaka Temple is located, the most important Shinto shrine in the city.
Kyoto also has the Toji Temple, a Buddhist complex with the largest wooden dome in the world, 55 meters high. A little more than half of Japanese people belong to the Shinto religion, while close to 40 percent follow Buddhism.
There is no great difference between them, as evidenced by the fact that I heard from the host that a considerable number of Japanese practice the customs or celebrate the deities of both Buddhism and Shintoism.
One of the theoretical differences - the Shinto religion preaches a focus on earthly life, while Buddhists believe in reincarnation and life after life. The imperial family belongs to Shinto.
But back to Kyoto. In the city, you can eat the tastiest tofu cheese, taste the best sake and wear the highest quality and most expensive kimono - made of pure silk, of course. You can also meet real geishas, drink catnip tea with them and talk about Japanese culture, tradition, philosophy.
In one of the many tea houses, in 45 minutes, they will explain and demonstrate the ceremony of making and drinking this beverage.
They have 800 years of tradition in this and say that the entire ceremony related to tea should bring harmony, respect, bliss and peace to the host and guests.
No fear and no desire - that's the motto of the tea ceremony, which is tied to the fundamental principles of Zen Buddhism.
A kilogram of the most famous Japanese green tea, called matcha, which is produced as a powder, not in a leaf, in London's Herods is known to cost over a thousand and a half pounds.
You also have it here - in "Vodenica", a package of 70 grams for "only" 11 euros. There are five grams of sword powder in two children's tea. You take a bamboo whisk and whisk in a W shape until you get a cappuccino-like drink. With plenty of green foam. And then you drink. In the morning rather than in the evening. Because of the price, matcha is only drunk on festive occasions in Japan.
Kyoto has made an entire spectacle and business out of matcha because the largest tea plantations are located right in the vicinity of this city. The whole of Kyoto - and to a certain extent Japan - is in green: teas, sweets, various confectionery products, everything is made from or with the addition of this miraculous plant for Japan.
And to end the story of Kyoto - the monument to Indiana Jones. That is, to the famous American archaeologist Langdom Warner, whose life and research helped Spielberg to make this movie spectacle. And Kyoto erected a monument to him because of another merit - he, as a member of the American army at the time, played a key role in saving Kyoto from the atomic bomb.
He convinced American generals and politicians that Kyoto was a cultural gem, not only of Japan, but of the world, after which Nagasaki took its place on the kill list. Which is fate.
Workaholics are from Fukushima, and in Okinawa - we'll do it easily
The story of the atomic bomb is an insight for a brief review of the visit to Hiroshima. I will write about what Hiroshima was before the Second World War and its tragic fate in August 1946 in a separate text.
That's why I want to say here that Hiroshima today is a modern and rich city, famous for oysters and deer.
Oysters are served at every corner, and you can hang out with deer, but literally, on the island of Miyajima, which is their nature reserve and which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Miyajima is also home to the spectacular Itsukushima Temple, the largest Shinto shrine in Japan dating back to the 6th century.
The whole ambience is reminiscent of Boko - Hiroshima Bay surrounded by hills that are reflected in it, and on the very shore of Itzukushima, a shrine with a Torii, a temple door, 22 meters high - directly in the sea!
Like any large and complex community, Japan is not immune to internal teasing and bullying. In Japan, too, there is an opinion that people from the north of the country are harder workers than those from the south. That is why the farms and granaries of Japan are in the north.
Then there are gossips related to the cities and the characters of their inhabitants: people from Osaka are said to be good traders and merrymakers.
For those from Nagoya that they are hard. Fukushima is the land of workaholics and disciplined people. (I'm really interested in what an undisciplined Japanese looks like).
Okinawans are said to be a bit lazy and spoiled. They say about everything - we will do it easily. Or we will tomorrow. While the people of Tokyo, especially those who are Edo, there is a stereotype that they are too sensitive and easily flare up.
So, be careful what you say in front of them.
Bonus video:
